Dogs on the Farm

Several dogs come to mind when I think of life on the farm.  They were cow dogs, but were gentle with us children, too.

Shep was the dog of my early childhood.  He was a collie and was living there when I was born.  Dan, our hired man, sent Shep for the cows in the pasture late afternoon, and he would round them up.  I don't know if Dan was the one who trained him or whether my dad did.

Shep was tolerant of us children and seemed like one of the family.  We even had a birthday cake for him on his birthday in December.  As I recall, Mother said that was the month he was born.

Bud Rover followed Shep, who died of old age.  We acquired him as a pup, when Shep was getting stiff and unable to round up the cows.  He was part German Shepherd and part collie.  My sister and I wanted to call him Rover and my brother opted for Bud.  So Mother combined the names to satisfy us all, and Bud Rover answered to either or all.

Dan took him along when getting the cows for milking, and Bud Rover soon learned his task.  However, he wasn't so good on his own as Shep was.

Dasher was a dash hound we acquired, I don't know from where.  Low to the ground and comical, he wasn't much of a cow dog.  But he became one of the family and followed my brothers around.  By now, Dan had retired, and we youngsters called in the cows and sought out the elusive ones in the pasture.  Dasher came along for the run on his short legs, but didn't scare the cows much, I think.

I left for college when we still had Dasher and married after graduation.  However, my brothers had several dogs to help them on the farm in those years.  Generally the dogs we had were working dogs and expected to help us in the pasture.  They often liked to follow us to the hay fields, too.

What were the dogs in your life on the farm?

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